Just Another Tuesday

So, it's Tuesday night. About 8:00 pm. You're thinking to yourself, I've got some work to take care of tomorrow. The kids are ready for bed. It's been a long day and as you're ready to tuck in for the night, you make the same call many Americans make everyday.

That's right. We're going to Disney World!

We loaded everything up, picked up Uncle Lawrence, the Disney World aficianado, dropped Guinness off at Grandma's house, and headed east. We arrived at the resort at about 4:00 AM, a little groggy, but in great spirits. The girls slept almost all of the way, while Mommy and Lawrence kept Daddy awake. Tomorrow (or would it be today, we're still not clear on this) we would sack the Magic Kingdom.

We hit all of the prime spots first, Dumbo, Carousel, etc. and then headed for the big kid rides. Amelia is just over 40 inches now, so we don't have to bribe the security to get her on the ride. Last time we were here, a kid named Stanislav got me for twenty bucks. His name tag might have said 'From Ukraine, How may I help you?', but the only thing I could understand him say was 'Tway In Tee Dole Ers'? This trip was much less costly in the graft department.

Amelia road Splash Mountain for the first time, after talking about it for months. The girls are both so brave and patient while waiting. We were a bit surprised at the number of people there. Despite the weakness in the overall economy, Disney seemed filled with well-fed people.

We caught up with Jim and Heather and their two daughters Meg and Kate. It was great catching up and the girls had a blast with each other. The highlight of the day was seeing Ariel, 'Raurora', Cinderalla, and Belle in quick succession. Lawrence got his fill of Space Mountain and go karts. We have always been there for the light parade, but this time we saw the fireworks show. We've never seen it before and came away quite impressed. They had star shaped fireworks, a sad face, heart, and an American flag with all 50 stars. Okay, not the flag, but they did have the rest of them. In the end, we piled our five and the four Dahlbys into the Expedition and took them back to their hotel. They paid their cab fare in pizza. It was the end of a great day. Tomorrow would see the fall of Animal Kingdom and Epcot.

We made a quick morning of Animal Kingdom. The animals were very active on the safari, highlighted by a baby giraffe eating very close to us. (Believe me, it was cooler than it sounds in that sentence.) Lawrence and Daddy rode Mt Everest and the girls rode their favorite, the Dino ride. And then we were off to Epcot.

Our first stop was the ball ride, the giant golf ball looking thing. It's a ride through the development of communications technology. Amelia loves it. Abigail describes it thusly: "Why do you think so many people want to go on this slow, unfun ride?" I must admit, she has a point, but she went along grudgingly. Last time we were at Epcot, we snuck Amelia by the first set of guards at Test Trak, but were foiled just before getting on the ride by Disney's version of Jonathan Papelbon. The ride attendant really closed us out. Amelia was disappointed she wasn't quite tall enough. This year though, Amelia was Bill Mueller circa October 2004 and all they had was Mariano Rivera. She measured up, and we were on Disney's fastest ride. The girls loved it! Other than Lawrence falling in the shower later that night, everything went great.

Our last day, always the toughest, would be spent at 'Holly Woody Studios' as the girls call it. The horizon there is dominated by a single, monolithic tower of macabre menace. The Tower of Terror. At first glance Amelia was in. Mommy and Abigail, not so much. With minimal negotiating and a tinge of deceit, we were all going to be riding. Amelia's only scare, "when my legs came off the seat." Our five year old and three year old willingly stepped on an elevator at someplace called the Tower of Terror. I was so proud of them, before realizing what this foretells in their teenage years. In the end, they both loved it and wanted to go again.

As we stumbled out of the park, weak and weary, we knew we had won. How lucky are we that we can saddle up and head to the happiest place on earth for a few days on a whim? Our girls are growing up in front of us and taming their fears. Technology allows Daddy to work from anywhere anytime. (It was a very profitable few days.) Lawrence can consume over 40,000 calories in three days. Mommy can pick out Disney outfits and worry about eating too much fast food. If there is a heaven, I'm already in it. So, if you ever find yourself on a Tuesday night wishing you were doing something else, try and figure out a way to do it.

Tea Party - Take Two

There was a little mix up with mailing addresses for Abigail's birthday outfit and it didn't make it here in time for the party. I was a little bummed, but I knew she would be able to wear it well beyond her birthday. After all, Pink Bunny is on her shirt. I saved what was left of the cake from the party (I had two cakes so only half the teapot cake got eaten) knowing I could use it again for some pictures when the outfits did come. It came today so we set up a little tea party, just us girls.

"Ordinary Looker"

It started off simple, we went to a dog parade with friends today. It was sort of a last minute thing and so we decided not to bring Guinness. In hindsight we wished we would have. He would have loved it. The girls had fun though and collected lots of goodies, most of which were Mardi Gras beads.

There were lots of dogs dressed up there. The girls thought that was really funny, especially Amelia. So when we got home they decided they'd dress up their own dog. They bribed Guinness up the stairs with dog treats and continued to feed him pretzels while they loaded him up with their new beads.

It didn't stop there though. Once they got the beads on him, they decided he must wear a tutu.

And if they could get one tutu on him they figured they could probably get more.
The pink boots were a nice touch.

By the time they were done he had on not one, but three tutus, fairy wings and wand, and a whole bunch of beads.

Guinness was such a good sport for the whole thing. The girls gave him lots of treats and when they were done they were nice enough to take all the stuff off him before Will took him out to play fetch.

Five Years Old Today!

gk

We had a big tea party for Abigail's birthday. Amelia and I even made a teapot cake for it! She got a big girl bike with no training wheels, princess dresses, build-a-bear supplies, bracelets, and books. It was a perfect day for a little girl to turn five.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

A Few Of Her Favorite Things

Abigail spent the day out with Dad and Grandma doing some of her favorite things, while Amelia and I stayed home working on the cake and the lasagna dinner (another favorite of hers).

Pink balloons

Panera's chocolate chip bagel with plain cream cheese

Dates with Dad anywhere (today was a lunch date)

Build a Bear outings (courtesy of Grandma)

The candy store

A Little Swim On A Sunday Afternoon

We went out to brunch at the Emerald Grande today. They have a really warm indoor pool there, so we took the kids for a swim after we finished eating. The pool was shallow enough for Abigail to walk around. Amelia practiced swimming underwater. I have both girls signed up for swim lessons on March 30 for one full week. Soon we'll be swimming in our own pool. I'm just hoping the water gets as warm.

The Search Has Ended

Now I know I don't normally write about things outside of what the girls have been doing, but bare with me, this really does involve them. Since we moved to our new house, I have been looking for some new furniture. It's a much bigger house than our last one, so even though we had plenty of furniture there, it just didn't fill this house. We've mainly been looking for a couch for the downstairs living room, but also for a few other pieces for some other rooms in the house. The girls have gone with me to countless (and I'm talking countless) furniture stores, being troopers and rarely complaining. Amelia has actually really taken to it. She especially likes going to the antique furniture stores. She loves to pick out all the pretty chandeliers and birdcages and somehow she always finds a bunny or two to show Abigail. I don't know how she finds stuff through all that junk. :) Abigail is more my moral support, telling me not to "estress" (stress) about it and that "we'll find furniture soon, Mom". So yesterday, we finally found a couch!! But not for downstairs, hee hee hee. I found a great deal on a leather sectional for our media room. I decided I'll just take my love seat from the upstairs living room and move that downstairs. So now I just need to find a couple of chairs to go down there and really just a few more pieces and I swear we're done. I think. ;)

Eat At Sweets

Sweets Restaurant

(because we add a lot of sugar to everything)


Menu


Appetizers
ceasar crab
coconut shrimp
salad
rice

Soups
tomato soup
spicy cherry soup
bean soup

Dinner
a chicken ceasar made with all different spices, some lemons, onions and bread
lemon meat made with roasted peppers, salt and sugar with cinnamon

Desserts
shakes
cheese cake
strawberry truffles

Drinks
lemonade, water, tea, orange juice and coffee
*when it's cold out we have hot cocoa


We have free samples at the counter


About the Chef
*a lot of my stuff I get shipped in is Chinese.
*a lot of my decorations are from Florida since we don't live in Chinese. Only if we are visiting someone there.

I sat at the table while Abigail played restaurant today. She told me everything she wanted at her restaurant. These are all her words with no prompting from me. I merely organized the menu.

A Little Reassurance From A 4 Year Old

"Mom, you're not as bad as you think you are." - Abigail

No Training Wheels

We took the training wheels off Abigail's bike for the first time today. She was a bit apprehensive at first. It wouldn't work without the extra wheels she said. She had to pick out just the right outfit and shoes. We talked her into jeans underneath, for protection. And then we were off. She picked it up right from the start. Daddy was quick to catch her if she fell.

We did a full block, with no injuries and many smiles. We're really proud she tried so hard. Amelia raced along too. She's next....

This Might Become A Habit

We left the girls with a babysitter...again! This time just with their cousins Macie and Connor so we could go to a charity event at the mall. We left them at 8:00, which is their normal bedtime, and stayed out till 11:30. The girls were still up when we got back to pick them up! They had a fun time playing and we had a nice time out with adults. We even won a silent auction for our favorite restaurant, Big City Cafe.

Dry Nights

Lately Amelia has been protesting wearing a Pull-up at bedtime (she says it bothers her). Unfortunately she rarely has a "dry night". The night before last I told her if she had four dry nights in a row, we'd talk about not having to wear one anymore. The very next morning she woke up with a dry diaper!!! Last night she complained again, but it had only been one night so I put her to bed with one on still. Around 1:30 she woke up requesting a "perfect spread" and a drink of water. While getting her the water she started to cry about her Pull-up bothering her. She really didn't want to wear it and I was too tired to listen to her cry. I had her go potty and put down a towel and a little mattress pad underneath her and hoped for the best.

We were all so proud of her when she woke up this morning with dry pj's!!

The Perfect Spread

Every single night there's a common refrain
It's a good thing that Mommy and Daddy are trained

They know just how to tuck me in
My blanket smoothed out and pulled up to my chin

When Daddy leans over and kisses my head
I have to remind him, "Don't mess up the spread!"

We'll Make A Beach Dog Out Of Him Yet